TongTong
Sign in

选人 (xuǎn rén) — to select people, to choose personnel

Definition

Verb-noun compound meaning 'to select/choose people' — a formal, process-oriented term (recruiting, picking a team), broader than picking one person. Compare 选 (general 'to choose/elect') and 挑选 ('pick through' a small set).

verb
to select peopleto choose personnel

Examples

  • 选人。
    Gōng sī xū yào xuǎn rén lái zǔ jiàn xīn tuán duì.
    The company needs to select people to form a new team.
  • 。
    Tā men xuǎn le sān gè rén cān jiā bǐ sài.
    They selected three people to participate in the competition.
  • 选人。
    Zhè cì xuǎn rén de biāo zhǔn fēi cháng yán gé.
    The criteria for selecting people this time are very strict.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

选xuǎnchoose
人rénpeople

选 choose, 人 people; to choose people or personnel.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 選; 选 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
止止zhǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
巽
巽xùn選xuǎn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 選 combines 止 with 巽, which gives the sound xùn; its sense of choosing is explained as rejecting or sending someone back. Simplified 选 is a shorthand.

Open 选 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →
Appears in
Management

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.